Economic Rating of Soils for Tax Assessment
Andrew R. Aandahl, William G. Murray, Wayne Scholtes · Journal of Farm Economics · 1954
years, it is possible to take a new look at these inequalities. The authors believe that an excellent opportunity exists to use this new information for the improvement of tax assessments. Such an opportunity to improve assessments was provided by the Assessor of Allamakee County, Iowa, A. L. Hansmeier,2 who asked for assistance from the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station in using the new county soil survey in the reassessment he was making of the county. As a result, the method described in this article, including economic classification and ratings, was designed by the authors and used by the assessor in the reassessment. The authors believe that the principles on which this method is based have general application and that a decided improvement in assessments can be obtained through their use. The authors do not intend this article to be a comprehensive discussion of the entire problem of land valuation for tax assessment. Rather it is primarily a description of a method of using soil maps to estimate the economic productivity of land holding constant management and location. The method results in a first approximation of the assessed value which must be adjusted for the location and building aspects.